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As-Safir Newspaper - Alaa Halabi: Syrian regime forces fight on multiple fronts around Aleppo :: English
▻http://www.assafir.com/Article/50/370530

Aleppo is witnessing a state of cautious calm that is occasionally interrupted by an exchange of fire between armed groups and the Syrian army. The balance of power does not tip [decisively one way or the other], but it’s currently favoring the Syrian army, which was able to cordon off the city and isolate the militants from the rural [areas] north of Aleppo that extend to Turkey. In this area, exchange of fire between the Islamic State (IS) and armed groups occurs in the vicinity of Marea city, with no advancement by either party.

As-Safir Newspaper - Abdullah Suleiman Ali: New alliance could signal end of Islamic Front :: English
▻http://www.assafir.com/Article/50/364940

A new phase of sorting and restructuring has started among Syria’s jihadist groups. If the headline of the preceding phase was the divorce between Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State (IS), then the headline for this phase will be yet another divorce — this time between Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham. This will mark the end of the alliance known as the Islamic Front after it lost its regional cover to continue.

Jaysh al-Islam, led by Zahran Alloush, is taking steady steps to complete the split with Ahrar al-Sham, after the two allied under the umbrella of the Islamic Front in response to a Saudi demand. Through this alliance, Riyadh wanted to stand in the way of the Geneva peace talks and prevent it from being used as a platform to declare a “war on terrorism” as per the request of the Syrian and Russian delegations.

As-Safir Newspaper - Abdullah Suleiman Ali: ISIS on offense in Iraq :: English
▻http://www.assafir.com/Article/50/354613

As if the Syrian arena is not complicated enough, the ISIS “expansion” strategy came to make it even more complicated. It led to the overlap of the warring parties in both countries.
It should be pointed out that the Iraqi army is not alone in standing against ISIS in Iraq. There is also the Ansar al-Islam organization, noting that this organization now has a branch in Syria, in particular in the Aleppo countryside. And there is information that Ansar al-Islam and Jabhat al-Nusra are cooperating against ISIS.
Abu Dhar al-Iraqi, the ISIS emir in al-Mayadin in the province of Deir ez-Zour, was captured by Jabhat al-Nusra and released in April as part of a deal between the two parties. He said in videotaped testimony that Jabhat al-Nusra’s grand mufti, Abu Maria al-Qahtani, asked him to communicate with the leaders of Ansar al-Islam to re-establish an al-Qaeda branch in Iraq.
Moreover, two weeks ago Qahtani issued a statement apologizing to Iraq’s Sunnis for the crimes in which he participated when he was an ISIS official. He specifically apologized to Ansar al-Islam, which makes it likely that the two parties are truly cooperating.

As-Safir Newspaper - Abdullah Suleiman Ali: New Syrian jihadist body formed to fight ISIS :: English
▻http://www.assafir.com/Article/50/352661
Twelve of the largest armed factions in the eastern region agreed to form what they called “the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of the Eastern Area.” That name was shortened to the acronym Mishmish, taking the first letter of each word in Arabic. Mishmish was formed to face the current phase and “the great challenges now threatening the eastern region in general, especially the city of Deir ez-Zor, which is under siege from all sides,” according to the video statement announcing the council’s formation.

The factions that signed the statement are: Jabhat al-Nusra in the eastern region, the Army of Islam, Ahrar al-Sham, the Army of Ahl al-Sunni wal Jamaa, Jabhat al-Asala wal Tanmiya, al-Qaaqaa, Jabhat al-Jihad wal Bina, Bayareq al-Shaaitat, Liwa al-Qadisiya, the Army of Maoata al-Islami, the Army of al-Ikhlas and the Muhajirin and al-Ansar Brigade.

Everyone agrees that what happened recently in Homs constitutes a turning point for the current conflict in Syria. But where are things heading?

Months ago, the blockade on the central neighborhoods of Homs became unbearable and the residents were left to their fate. It was clear that Homs would fall militarily and that the welcoming environment provided to the militants could not endure. Amid this situation, UN-Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi raised an important issue during the second round of Geneva II talks, when he noted the absence of any inclination from either parties for negotiations over a political solution. Yet he did not succeed in convincing them that a partial solution for a symbolic city like Homs could lay the foundation for a third round of negotiations, knowing that there is currently no possibility for it to be held.

As-Safir Newspaper - Samir al-Aita: Is Homs deal ‘turning point’ in Syria crisis? :: English
▻http://www.assafir.com/Article/50/350445

There a concerted international and regional counterterrorism effort that will only exacerbate the crisis of the Syrian armed opposition and cause it to decline further.

The concerted effort to fight terrorism is objectively bringing together, for the first time, the allies and enemies of the Syrian regime on two sides of a difficult equation to eliminate the jihadist enemy. However, the goals diverge about directing guns against Jabhat al-Nusra, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Ahrar al-Sham, Suqur al-Sham and the jihadist groups that are in the shadow of al-Qaeda and its many Syrian branches.

As-Safir Newspaper - Mohammad Ballout: Syrian moderates try to rebuild opposition force :: English
▻http://www.assafir.com/Article/50/350605

As-Safir Newspaper - Talal Salman : Disappearance of political life in Arab world : : English
▻http://www.assafir.com/Article/50/349112

Signalé l’autre jour (▻http://seenthis.net/messages/253785), un édito, genre « ça va pas bien », de Talal Salman dans Al-Safir désormais traduit en anglais.

As-Safir Newspaper - Carmen Joukhadar : Music plays on in Damascus : : English
▻http://www.assafir.com/Article/50/346952

Music plays on in Damascus

Scènes de la guerre ordinaire à Damas